Tone Analysis

Tonal Analysis in Theme-Genre
Set It Off - I'll Sleep When I'm Dead lyrics

It's the same, each and every night
Glare at my screen with two big bloodshot eyes
I'm stuck self torturing

My meds are failing me
Internal clock in smithereens
Can't fix this, I'm hopeless

My eyes are stapled opened wide
As I lay down on my side
I am bouncing off these walls

Notice my hands begin to twitch
Unprovoked assaulting of my conscious wit
Me and the TV are enemies
Sickening static surrounds my mind
I'm losing time and realizing that
After days of thought

I'm stuck self torturing
My meds are failing me
Internal clock in smithereens
Can't fix this, I'm hopeless

My eyes are stapled opened wide
As I lay down on my side
I am bouncing off these walls

As I focus on the clock, try to feel but I can not
I should strap myself in bed
I guess I'll sleep when I am dead

Talk to myself,
Lie in the darkness so content
As the Sun begins to rise
I can barely shut my eyes
This crazed delirious mess
Laughing at everything I see
My sanity is spent
Just tell me where my time went
I'm losing it

Attention:
All insomniacs please raise your right hand
And kindly repeat after me
I guess I'll sleep when I am dead

Cause I'm stuck self torturing
My meds are failing me
Internal clock in smithereens
Can't fix this, I'm hopeless

My eyes are stapled oWened wide
As I lay down on my side
I am bouncing off these walls

As I focus on the clock, try to feel but I can not
I should strap myself in bed
I guess I'll sleep when I am dead
I guess I'll sleep when I am

Lyrics provided by LyricsMode.com

          Shifting from a quick-paced and fierce instrumental to a much softer one for parts in I'll Sleep When I Am Dead, Set It Off utilizes internal first person perspective, crazed imagery, and effective hyperbole to display a bitter and indignant tone towards his insomnia.
          The first person point of view seen is told from the mind of the speaker. The perspective of being in his mind helps to connect the listener to his emotions and give a better idea of how his sleep-deprivation has affected him. He sings "I'm stuck self-torturing/My meds are failing me/Internal clock in smithereens/can't fix this, I'm hopeless," his tone here is very bitter and shows his animosity. He is desperate and the first person point of view gives the listener a deeper understanding by hearing his thoughts. This viewpoint conveys the time more precisely than any other would because it is really an internal battle he is fighting with his insomnia.
          The imagery in this song strengthens the main tone and idea, for the mental picture one created through listening is one of despair and anger. The speaker says "Notice my hands begin to twitch/...Sickening static surrounds my mind," the imagery here is best described as crazed and hectic. One imagines exact man in whom has a very troubled demeanor. The imagery serves to bring you to understand the song more deeply. The words "sickening static surrounds" are alliteration, they help to drive a point and make the imagery more effective. "I should strap myself in bed," is more imagery because one can picture him so set on getting rest that he is bound down almost comparable to a straightkacet. That can tie in with the bitterness and insanity in the tone.
         The hyperbole in this song strengthens the idea and tone of bitterness. The singer, Carson, says "My eyes are stapeled open wide," in an exaggeration to show just how wired he is and unable to sleep.

Song Analysis 10/16

This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race by Fall Out Boy
(Just for kicks, the misheard lyrics videos for this song are hilarious, I particularly like this one)

I am an arms dealer
Fitting you with weapons in the form of words 
And I don't really care which side wins 
As long as the room keeps singing  
That's just the business I'm in
 
This ain't a scene, it’s a god damn arms race 
This ain't a scene, it’s a god damn arms race 
This ain't a scene, it’s a god damn arms race 
I'm not a shoulder to cry on but I digress
I'm a leading man 
And the lies I weave are oh so intricate, oh so intricate
I'm a leading man
And the lies I weave are oh so intricate, oh so intricate
 
I wrote the gospel on giving up (You look pretty sinking)
But the real bombshells have already sunk (Prima donnas of the gutter)   
At night we're painting your trash gold while you sleep 
Crashing not like hips or cars
No, more like p-p-p-parties
 
This ain't a scene, it’s a god damn arms race
This ain't a scene, it’s a god damn arms race  
This ain't a scene, it’s a god damn arms race 
Bandwagon's full, please, catch another
I'm a leading man
And the lies I weave are oh so intricate, oh so intricate  
I'm a leading man 
And the lies I weave are oh so intricate, oh so intricate
 
All the boys who the dance floor didn't love 
And all the girls whose lips couldn't move fast enough 
Sing until your lungs give out
 
This ain't a scene, it’s a god damn arms race 
This ain't a scene, it’s a god damn arms race (Now you) 
This ain't a scene, it’s a god damn arms race (Wear out the groove)
This ain't a scene, it’s a god damn arms race (Sing out loud) 
This ain't a scene, it’s a god damn arms race (Oh, oh) 
This ain't a scene, it's a god damn arms race
 
I'm a leading man 
And the lies I weave are oh so intricate, oh so intricate
I'm a leading man
And the lies I weave are oh so intricate, oh so intricate

      Shifting from first to second person point of view in This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race, Fall Out Boy utilizes effective figurative language, indifferent characterization, and a satiric tone to show that the industry is not all that it's made out to be, and someone is always fighting to be on top. 
         The tone of this song is somewhat mocking and condescending to a point, yet it is trying to prove something. The idea behind the pop-punk music scene was that they all partied and got along but Fall Out Boy sings "This ain't a scene, it a god damn arms race," which clearly gives the impression that that idea is not true. An important line is when he says "Bandwagon's full, please catch another," for this is very satiric in that it is telling people to not just jump on what everyone else says. He is sick of everybody agreeing with things that they do not understand. The singer, Patrick Stump, says "I'm not a shoulder to cry on, but I digress," and his tone is one that is slightly acerbic, he does not pity anyone in the industry.
          The speaker of the song is characterized as someone who "wrote the gospel on giving up," and he is singing about the music scene and it's competitiveness. He says "And I don't really care which side wins...that's just the business I'm in," and this shows the great indifference he is trying to portray. 
He is attempting to point out how none of the people in their industry truly care what happens to them, so long as they are getting money. The speaker shifts from being a manager type until he is the member of the band, fighting to become number one, but he's given up.  He says "I'm a leading man, and the lies I weave are oh so intricate," they all make things up to better themselves, yet he is saying he almost no longer cares, because it isn't worth it.

            Figurative language plays a strong role in enhancing the universal idea of the song. Stump sings "At night we're painting your trash gold/while you sleep/Crashing not like hips or cars/no more like p-p-p-parties," which is a metaphor. They are saying that the idea is all of the people in the music "scene" go out and do ridiculous things as painting trash gold, simply because they're rich and they can, and partying. Another thing is when the song says "All the boys who the dance floor didn't love," and this is personification. A dance floor cannot love someone, yet they mean that these boys are ones who were never accepted into the popular group and scene. When it says "I am an arms dealer/fitting you with weapons in the form of words," this is a metaphor comparing the speaker (here a member high up in the music industry) to somebody who sells weapons, only in this case it is not a physical fight but one through speaking and sly moves. 

         Fall Out Boy's satiric indifference aids in giving a clear view on their opinion of the business that they're in. They use metaphor and personification to effectively drive their points as well. The mockery is also made more noticeable in how the speaker becomes the head music-man so to say, and how they sing about all the people who could not fit into the scene. Characterization, figurative language, and the tone of this song most strongly help to represent the main idea that it truly isn't a scene, but an arms race.